Ford’s F3T manufacturing tech makes prototyping more rapid

Warren Buffet once astutely observed that, “the poor invest in dollars, while the rich invest in time.” In manufacturing, the second often supplants the dollar as the unit upon which decisions turn. The new “Just In Time” (JIT) workflow strategy has penetrated so far into manufacturing now that even the deep automotive production lines embrace it.

In keeping with this philosophy, Ford has introduced a sheet metal process that eliminates the need for expensive dies to be machined. Their new Freeform Fabrication Technology (F3T) morphs metal with a blunt tool the way a chef would press a pie crust into a pan.

When dealing with a bulk order, there is simply no way that F3T could compete with ordinary stamping processes. While a stamped part goes from a flat sheet to a complex 3D creation in a fraction of a second (or a few seconds more if there are multiple steps), an F3T part needs to have each contour machine crafted. The problem with stamping, is that large dies are expensive, and take a long time to produce. The the actual machining itself can take several days — from the time the tools first hits the metal that is. The bulk of the work is in programming the part, and setting up the machine. A die then needs to be heat-treated, reground in the hard state, polished, coated, handled, shipped, and stored.

Machining a mold or die in the hard state can be done by a process known as electrical discharge machining (EDM). This process erodes parts micron by micron with a CNC-controlled spark gap. Sharp corners and perfectly square holes can be made, but again, it is a timely process. For big orders, that is likely fine, but for custom, or short-order prototypes, that system doesn’t work well.

Cold metal forming processes are nothing new. Hydroforming, which uses fluid pressure, has many automotive applications. High speed wire forming machines, with up to 14 axes of movement can shoot out linear parts faster than the eye can follow. Meanwhile, in Ford’s process, the part is held at its edges and stylus-like tools are set against it from above and below to persuade the part into the desired form. Stresses are introduced in the process and there are limits to the geometries that one would expect, but all-in-all it is a pretty cool method. In theory, some of the size limitations imposed on typical dies should go away. Parts the size of the car itself are, at least in principle, just a matter of having enough axis travel.

Engineers, while embracing the power of CAD, still value the benefits of hands-on designing. It is no misplaced metaphor to say that when designing something physical on the scale of a vehicle, it is often best to think on your feet, or perhaps inside of any strucutural rudiment you might be able to cobble together. In effect, the feel of the design can better flow from the ground up through your body as you move, however awkwardly, to stimulate mental representations of what you are trying to do. You just can’t do that at a computer console.

If that sounds odd, go build a novel car, boat, other unique craft and see for yourself. No engineer is going to have a die made just to “get the feel of” a new design idea, but a freeform fabricated part, may fit the bill.

Tagged In

This is revolutionary idea. This may pave way for a customized car design for each user.

In most cars the standard parts are same, engine, gearbox, etc. etc. for a particular weight range.

But the customers , each one of them wants to own a dream car. and by dream car , that means a dream shape. Some one wants Lamborghini look, other may want a classic style & so on.

So the time is coming when a customer may be asked to select a certain shape (just like you go to a shop & select an apparel) and colors(with photos or designs) and then you will be offered the engine types (power) and other features , choose as per the pocket and the car co. delivers your customized dream car .

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